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Shari’s Choice, An S.B.F. Twist & Apollo’s Kingdom

News and notes from the inside conversation on Wall Street: the future of Paramount Global, the latest on the FTX bankruptcy, and a close reading of a monster private equity deal.

Paramount Global chairperson Shari Redstone can pretty much do whatever she wants at the now-combined entity, including replacing its C.E.O., its board and single-handedly deciding whether the company should be sold.
Paramount Global chairperson Shari Redstone can pretty much do whatever she wants at the now-combined entity, including replacing its C.E.O., its board and single-handedly deciding whether the company should be sold. Photo: Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan, Getty Images
William D. Cohan
February 19, 2023

Last week, Paramount Global announced topsy-turvy fourth quarter earnings. The company added nearly 10 million subscribers to Paramount+, its fledgling streaming service, and Pluto, its free ad-supported streaming tier, remains a viable business unit as cord-cutting accelerates. But the growth in streaming wasn’t large enough to offset a frosty advertising market and the secular decline in the affiliate fees business. Overall revenue declined about seven percent from the previous year, to $5.9 billion.